Nightmare
by AuthorOfRequiems
Summary: Two sisters, on a journey for alchemical knowledge, find themselves trapped within a living nightmare where the ones pulling the strings have no intention of letting it end...
1. Info

This "chapter" is just an info bit about the 4 main characters of Nightmare. I've never seen any info chapters in any other story that contained OCs and that really bothered me. You don't have to read it and just skip ahead to the real first chapter and learn about the characters through the story. I do have pictures for all of the characters, but I don't think FanFiction supports them in their stories, however. If you want to see them, you can go to my Quizilla account, BroughtToLife, and read see their pictures there in Nightmare's Info.

Have I bored you enough, yet? Well, you can either read this or go on ahead to read the first chapter. It's your choice. Choose wisely though… Just kidding.

**Name: Elizabeth Monroe**

**Age: 16**

**DOB: October 13th**

**Born in: Ishbal**

**Race: Ishbalan**

**Location: Dublith**

**Hair: Light red**

**Eyes: Light purple**

**Alchemy: Cannot use it because it goes against beliefs**

**Relatives: Mariah Thomas, half-sister; Mark Monroe, father, deceased, Sabriel Monroe, mother; Brigadier General John Thomas, step-father, deceased**

**Personality/History: This shy, timid, and unconfrontational girl has seen a lot in her 16 years. Born in Ishbal, she and her family watched in horror as their country was destroyed by the Amestrian military. At the age of seven, her father, Mark Monroe, was killed by a State Alchemist. Just two years after her father's death, Sabriel Monroe, Elizabeth's mother, fell in love and remarried. Her new spouse was a man that young Elizabeth detested. He was Brigadier General John Thomas, a member of the same military that had destroyed her home and killed her father. The Brigadier had a daughter as well. Her name was Mariah and was one year older than Elizabeth. At first the two didn't get along, Mariah teasing Elizabeth for not being able to use alchemy and Elizabeth calling her new sister's father a "dog of the military." When Mariah's father was killed on duty, Elizabeth became sympathetic for her sister. They are now inseparable. **

**Wanting to learn more about alchemy, Mariah sets off to find the legendary alchemist, Izumi Curtis. Elizabeth decides to tag along with her sister, but unintentionally gains something along the way. She has the caught the eye of the former Alphonse Elric…**

**Name: Mariah Thomas**

**Age: 17**

**DOB: September 1st**

**Born in: Ishbal**

**Race: Amestrian**

**Location: Dublith**

**Hair: Black**

**Eyes: Purple**

**Alchemy: Regular, has to use transmutation circle**

**Relatives: Elizabeth Monroe, half-sister; Brigadier General John Thomas, father, deceased; Chantae Thomas, mother, deceased; Sabriel Monroe, step-mother**

**Personality/History: This outgoing, depressed, cold, but loving girl has been through a lot at age 17 and still has more to come. When she was a little girl she discovered that she could use alchemy and started to use it all the time. Her father was part of the military so he didn't really care that she was using alchemy, but instead very proud her. Her mother was the one who didn't like it. Then one day her mother just went missing, no one heard from her and everyone was looking for her too. When her father remarried and she got a stepsister, Elizabeth Monroe, Mariah teased her about not being able to do alchemy. But in return for teasing Elizabeth, Elizabeth called her a "dog of the military". She didn't really like Elizabeth because she was all-religious about the alchemy and not to use it. But one day while her father was a work there was a phone call, it was from the military were her father worked saying he was killed by some Homunculi. As the years went by Elizabeth and her got to be very good friends and soon inseparable. **

**Soon Mariah wanted to learn more about alchemy that her father could not teach, so she started off on a journey. Elizabeth tagged along and they find the legendary alchemist, Izumi Curtis. While spending time there she has no idea that some one is obsessing over her… **

**Written by: Clara-Sage, the one who makes me write the stories**

**Name: Greed**

**Age: 19((16 when he died, 3 years as Homunculus))**

DOB: Unknown 

**Created by: His brother, Pride**

**Race: Homunculus**

**Location: Unknown**

**Hair: Sandy brown**

**Eyes: Hazel**

**Alchemy: Can use it even though he is a Homunculus**

**Relatives: Pride, brother**

**Personality/History: No longer the kind, caring boy he used to be, Greed is avarice incarnate. Cold, cruel, and determined to gain everything he wants, Greed will stop at nothing to have what his black heart desires. When he was the human, Alphonse Elric, a transmutation gone wrong took his life. After his brother, Edward, became the new Pride, he brought Al back as the new Greed. Even though they are named after one of the Seven Deadly Sins, Greed and his brother do not work with the other Homunculi. Instead they work together on a quest for eternal life. On their journey, they run across their former teacher, Izumi, and two young girls who are helping her. One of them, Elizabeth Monroe, has caught the callous incarnates eye…**

**Name: Pride**

**Age: 20((17 when he died, 3 years as a Homunculus))**

**DOB: Unknown**

**Created by: His father, Hohenheim**

**Race: Homunculus**

**Location: Unknown**

**Hair: Blonde**

**Eyes: Brownish-yellow**

**Alchemy: Can use it even though he is a Homunculus**

**Relatives: Greed, brother**

**Personality/History: There was once a time when Pride was a heroic, confident, and loving young man named Edward Elric. That passage in his life has passed long ago. Now the former Fullmetal Alchemist is a brutal, unfeeling Homunculus. As his name suggests, he takes pride in causing misery in other people's lives, even those he once held dear. When he was a human being, Pride was killed by Envy and forced through the Gate. On the other side, his father, Hohenheim, made him the Homunculus he is today. After he returned to Amestris, he brought back his dead brother, Alphonse, and called him Greed. Although he and his brother do not work along side the other Homunculi, they have similar goals and don't mind making humans miserable. During their pursuit for eternal life, Pride and Greed stumble upon Izumi Curtis and two young girls who now travel with their former teacher. The older of the two, Mariah Thomas, has soon become Pride's obsession…**


	2. Begin Dream Sequence

Hello, and welcome to the REAL first chapter! Whether you read the info part or not, I hope you really like this story. The inspiration for the fanfiction was a very odd dream I had and, after telling my best friend, Clara, I am now being forced to write a story about it. It's rated M now because they will go up in later chapters.

Oh! After posting the info chapter, I realized the little line thing wasn't working. If there's some secret trick to make it work, it would be greatly appreciated if you could let me in on it.

**DISCLAIMER: **Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa and not me. Elizabeth Monroe and Mariah Thomas, however, DO belong to me.

_Bombs rained downed from the sky. Transmutations went off, taking more innocent people's lives. The bloodied ground was littered with mangled corpses. Houses and churches had been set a flame, their burning structures filling the already putrid air with smoke._

_A little girl ran through the ruins of the town, frantically searching for someone. _

"_Daddy!" she called._ _No answer_.

"_Daddy!" she yelled even louder._

_Her bare feet slapped the ground as she continued her desperate search for her father. The sound of fighting filled her ears as the child neared the center of the ruined town. As she neared the place where the battle was taking place, a sudden explosion threw her backwards._

_The blast had sent her into the pile of rubble that had once been a house. Crying out, she grasped her upper right arm, blood seeping through her fingers. Looking at her arm, she realized pieces of shrapnel had embedded themselves in her arm. Stifling back a sob, the young girl picked herself up and staggered into the plaza._

_Her eyes widened when she saw the mass carnage that lay before her. The bodies of her closest friends and ones she held near were heaped everywhere. Arms, legs, and other unrecognizable body parts added even more horror to the vile setting. Forcing down the contents of her stomach, the child's eyes wandered the battlefield. They finally settled on a small fight between two men. _

_The men were exchanging fierce blows, but one of them was being overpowered. When she realized who it was, she ran screaming out to the fighters. The larger of the two struck the other, sending him tumbling to the ground._

"_No!" she cried. She wasn't running fast enough. She wouldn't get to him in time._

_Pushing himself up onto his hands and knees, the man saw the girl running towards him._

"_No, stay back!"_

_She did not listen and continued racing towards them. The other man looked up and smirked as he saw the young child racing towards them. Reaching down, he grabbed the hair of his opponent and jerked him backwards. Staring straight into the girl's terrified eyes, the man laughed. It happened so quickly after that._

_Red electricity seemed to encircle the man's arm and shoot into the other's body. Screaming, the captive held his head in pain and the energy poured into his body. And then, his body exploded._

_Blood rained down on the girl. The sound of flesh splattering upon the ground became the only thing she could hear. In moments she was drenched in the now dead man's blood. Falling to her knees, to frightened to cry, one word escaped her lips:_

"_Daddy!"_

Elizabeth woke with a start. She was drenched in cold sweat, the world spinning around her. Her breaths came quick and short as she shook violently. Placing a hand on her chest, she tried to steady her erratic breathing. '_That's twice now this week,' _she thought to herself. Pulling herself out of the bed, Elizabeth walked over to the mirror that stood on the opposite wall.

Standing before the looking glass, Elizabeth examined her reflection.

Staring back at her was a plain, simple young woman. Long, light red hair hung loosely around her thin frame. Lilac eyes rimmed with thick lashes gazed at her. Elizabeth had to admit, she wasn't a real eye-catcher. Her pale skin gave her an odd glow in the moonlight and her slender body possessed no delectable curves to make the male population swoon over her. And she was just fine with that.

Elizabeth wasn't like other girls who tried to make every man on earth fall for her. In fact, she would rather be left alone. She preferred the peace and quiet because it suited her personality. Looking back at her reflection, another aspect of her body caught her eye.

A long, pink scar stretched itself along the upper portion of her arm. Touching the area gently, Elizabeth thought back to the day when she had witnessed her father be killed by a State Alchemist. It was a painful memory, one of her worst, and her mind always had to bring it up. Despite her best efforts, a few tears escaped her eyes.

"What are you doing up?"

Spinning around, Elizabeth found herself standing before her older sister. Furiously wiping away the tears on her face, Elizabeth bowed her head to the annoyed looking woman in front of her.

"S-sorry, Mariah. Did I wake you up?"

"No."

Mariah's arms were crossed in front of her chest, a sign that she wasn't in the greatest mood. Elizabeth dropped her head so she wasn't looking her older sister in the eye.

"Did you have that dream again?" she asked suddenly.

Elizabeth's shoulders hunched forward and she weakly nodded her head. How many times now had she awakened Mariah with this dream?

"You worry me sometimes," Mariah said in an even tone.

Looking up, Elizabeth looked at the woman in front of her. Confusion was written all over her subtle features. Walking over to smaller girl, Mariah placed her hands on Elizabeth's shoulders.

"You are my younger sister, even if we are only one year apart and technically not related by blood," she stated in her smooth voice. "And because you are my younger sister, no matter how we are related, I worry about you. When was the last time you had a full night's sleep?"

"Not for a while," admitted Elizabeth.

"See? You keep having that goddamn dream and it keeps you up every frickin night!"

"I-I know, Mariah. But don't worry about me. You, out of both of us, needs the sleep."

Sighing, Mariah shook her head. _'Oh, Elizabeth…Sometimes your so naïve."_

"Hey, Elizabeth?"

"Yes, Mariah?"

"Promise me you'll take better care of yourself."

"O-ok."

Elizabeth silently contemplated the woman in front of her. Mariah was, as she had said, was not related to her by blood. She was her half sister and like most half siblings, they were near complete opposites.

Unlike her own unattractive self, Mariah was a popular choice for the men of their town to try and win over.

She had long black hair with two dark strands that always framed her heart shaped face. Her amethyst eyes were full of confidence and strength, two things Elizabeth did not possess. Her peach colored skin was flawless and added even more to her beauty.

But these things had no affect on Mariah. She could care less about the way she looked and found it quite annoying how most of the men around her flirted with her constantly.

In an attempt to repel the members of the opposite gender, and hopefully the other one as well, Mariah wore heavy, dark clothing. Her personality also helped her ward off unwanted hopefuls.

To others besides the ones she held very close, Mariah was very cold, snapping at others and giving sarcastic comments whenever she could. A lot of the time she felt depressed, for reasons she didn't like to think about. When she was younger, she hated to talk to anyone and pushed away even her own family members. It wasn't until her father and Elizabeth's mother married and they became half-sisters did she start to care for those around her.

The sun's light broke the two sisters out of their silent reveries. Glancing at the clock, Mariah sighed. '_Looks like I can't get anymore sleep today.'_

"Well, I guess we should get ready. We have a big day ahead of us," she stated, walking over to fetch some clothes from her closet.

"Yeah, I guess we do," Elizabeth replied in her soft voice.

After throwing on some clothes, the two sisters now stood in their kitchen. Scanning Mariah's wardrobe, Elizabeth let out an audible sigh.

"What?" Mariah asked in an annoyed voice.

"You wear something like that everyday," Elizabeth replied, motioning at her sister's clothes.

Mariah looked down to see that she was wearing a black jacket, dark pants, and leather choker.

Glaring at her sister, Mariah examined the outfit of the woman standing in front of her.

'_Hmm…Navy blouse…Black skirt…' _she noted to herself.

"Look who talking! You're wearing the same thing you always do! Except today they're different colors!" Mariah exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Elizabeth.

The two glared at each other for a moment before laughing. Light hearted moments like these were rare and they cherished them when they could.

The distant tolling of the bell in the local church forced them back into reality.

"I guess we should go now," Mariah noted.

"Mmm-hmm," was Elizabeth's response.

Heading out the door, the two sisters began walking towards the main road. Glancing back at their home, a wave sadness enveloped them. Who knew when they were going to see it again? '_Don't think about that,'_ Elizabeth told herself sharply.

"You know you don't have to come, Elizabeth."

Mariah had stopped and was watching her sister intently. Turning to look at her, Elizabeth gave Mariah a gentle smile.

"I know," she said, faintly. "But I'm not going to let you go away on some adventure and leave me behind."

Shaking her head, Mariah placed a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder and pushed her lightly so she would start walking again. After a few minutes of walking in silence, Mariah spoke up again.

"You do realize this journey will really serve you no purpose whatsoever?"

"You worry too much, sister. Yes, I do realize that I wont gain anything in particular during our travel. But I've never seen Dublith before and I think it will be good to go somewhere else for a change," Elizabeth assured her sister.

Glancing over at her companion, Mariah saw that Elizabeth was putting on another one of her facades. Deep down she knew Elizabeth was coming to make sure that she, Mariah, didn't get lonely and to make certain she stayed out of harms way. _'And you say that I worry too much.' _

"Look, we're here."

Elizabeth's voice shook Mariah out of her thoughts. They had arrived at the train station and it looked like they had just made it.

Hurrying up the small set of stairs that led to the main platform, they walked over to the man who was taking tickets.

"Monroe, Elizabeth and Thomas, Mariah," he mumbled as he glanced over their tickets.

As he handed them back to the women, he noticed they didn't have any baggage.

"Don't you two have any luggage? You're going awfully far to go without it."

Glaring at the man, Mariah replied in a low, threatening voice:

"No."

The man said no more. Climbing onto the train, Elizabeth gently scolded her sister.

"He was just trying to be helpful."

"Yeah, well, he should go help himself," muttered Mariah.

Finding an empty compartment, they took their seats just as the train started to leave the station.

"There goes your chance to have stayed here," pointed out Mariah.

"I know," sighed Elizabeth, her voice exasperated. "You're very persistent today."

About an hour into their trip, Elizabeth reached over to her sleeping sister's form. Slipping her hand into one of her jacket pockets, she pulled out a letter that was addressed to her sister.

The message was vague and had to do with Mariah being accepted for some type of training. Whoever had written it was obviously a no-nonsense type of person and got right to the point, but it was hard to tell what they meant. '_I bet Mariah knows what this means,' _thought Elizabeth. _'I'll ask her when she wakes up, I suppose.'_

As she leaned over to replace the letter, Elizabeth caught a glimpse of a name at the bottom of the letter before it was slipped back into Mariah's pocket.

'_Izumi Curtis…'_


	3. Darkness Enters

Well, here's chapter two of Nightmare ((If you haven't already figured that out))! It's not necessary, but a review or two would make my day go a lot better. winkwink

Two dark figures stood in a decrepit and rundown hotel room. The broken window was covered in grime and pieces of shattered glass lay about the room and the peeling walls littered plaster shreds everywhere. The only piece of furniture in the room was an unkempt bed. Despite it's degradation, the place was still used quite often. The stagnate scent of stale sex still wafted in the air.

The two new occupants paid no attention to the room they were staying in and continued to stare out into the night. Finally, the taller of the two broke the silence.

"So, where do you think we should go now?"

"I don't know, brother. That last lead was a dead one and led us no where," the other replied.

"Hn."

They were locked in silence again, each of them lost in their own thoughts. After a few moments, the taller one yet again spoke first. This time, he turned to face his companion, his shockingly dull and lifeless yellow eyes gazed down at the other with him.

"Tell me, Greed. What is that you desire most?" he asked.

"You're an idiot, Pride," the one called Greed replied in an annoyed voice. "Immortality of course."

Pride's vacant eyes narrowed at Greed.

"I just wanted to know. You are named 'Greed' and you desire many things. You don't have to go and bite my head off, ass," mumbled Pride.

It was Greed's turn to glare. His hard, hazel eyes shone violently and his upper lip curled back to reveal barred teeth. Pride just looked down at his counterpart, a look of bemusement on his face.

"You're right, _brother_, I do desire many things," Greed's voice was low and menacing. "Among them are women, power, and sex, but eternal life tops them all. After spending the last few years with me searching the world for the damn answer of immortality, you still don't know that?"

Smirking down at his younger brother, for they were brothers, Pride let out a small chuckle. He found it very amusing when Greed had his sudden mood swings. Deadly mood swings at that, but still very amusing.

Greed's eyes narrowed to slits, his sand colored bands obscured some of his face.

"You are exactly like your predecessor: short temper, the want to have everything your heart desires, and you were both very greedy," mused Pride.

"I wonder why I'm called Greed, then," muttered Greed sarcastically. "You're nothing like your predecessor, however," he added suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"The former Pride ran the military. You can hardly lead our two-man group without messing up."

The insulted one scowled at his younger brother, all former amusement gone.

"Shut the hell up. If it weren't for me, you'd still be a pathetic, dead human. But, being the caring older brother that I am, I brought you back as the Homunculus you are today," Pride's words dripped with venom.

Greed knew better to carry on. Turning away from Pride, he again looked out the broken window into the night.

Tense moments like this happened almost daily. Ever since they had both been "reborn", the two brothers often fought, but they always resolved their disputes. They both wanted to learn the secret of immortality and there was no way they could do it by themselves.

Glancing at his companion out of the corner of his eye, Greed could see that Pride was still seething. As he was returning his gaze back to the window, Greed noticed his older brother's usually empty eyes light up. A mischievous smile soon followed after.

Following Pride's eyes' path, Greed soon saw what had made Pride's mood change. There in the alley behind the hotel, stood two young women.

"Say, brother, why don't we have some fun tonight?" Pride asked, his eyes never leaving the two women.

"Yes, let us. We haven't had fun in a _very_ long time," Greed replied, his hungry gaze eagerly planning out how they would take down their prey and what they would do to them.

Without another word, the two swept silently out of the room, swiftly heading to the alley to "have some fun" with the two unsuspecting women outside…

"Hnn… W-what?"

Mariah groggily sat up, slightly disoriented from the nap she had just taken. Looking about her, her tired eyes eventually settled upon her sister.

Elizabeth sat on the seat opposite of her. One slim hand propped her chin up while her elbow rested on the windowsill. Her lilac eyes steadily observed the landscape that was flashing by. She seemed unaware that Mariah had woken up.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked.

Turning her head, Elizabeth smiled at her sister.

"It's about time that you woke up," Elizabeth replied. "You've been out for three hours."

Mariah grinned back at her sister before her face turned serious.

"And how long did you sleep, if I may ask?"

"I didn't sleep," sighed Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth, you need to get more sleep! You can't keep letting that damn dream you keep having keep you awake!" Mariah scolded.

"Sister, I'm fine. I didn't sleep because I wasn't tired. And besides, me not sleeping is a really irrelevant and unimportant thing to worry over."

Shaking her head, Mariah turned her gaze to the passing scenery outside the window. The announcement for the next stop and the constant noise of the train were the only things that broke the silence.

"Our stops coming up," Mariah stated.

"What? We're not even close to Dublith yet. We haven't even passed Central yet," Elizabeth replied, confused.

"I know. We're making one stop before we reach Dublith."

"Huh? W-wait a minute! You don't mean Central, do you?!" shock was highly evident on Elizabeth's voice.

Mariah nodded.

"But why?!"

"I need to talk with my father's old friend, Colonel Mustang. It's been awhile since I've seen him, it would be nice to visit him and the others again," Mariah replied, calmly.

"Mariah you know I hate going to that damn place! Why the hell are you taking me there?!" Elizabeth yelled.

Looking at her sister, Mariah witnessed one of the very few times she had actually seen Elizabeth angry. Not many things got to her, but the one thing that did was the military and anything that had to do with it. Mariah didn't blame her, she would hate the military too if it had killed her father and destroyed her country.

"Come on, Elizabeth, give Mustang and his crew a chance," Mariah coaxed her sister.

"Why should I? They and the rest of those dogs never gave us a chance," Elizabeth retorted, coldly.

Sighing, Mariah just shook her head and let silence be her answer to Elizabeth's protests.

Leaning back, Elizabeth folded her arms in front of her chest. _'Damn it, Mariah. Out of all the places we had to stop, why Central? Why that breeding ground for traitors?'_

The next hour or so was spent with no exchange of words while the two sisters brooded on their separate sides of the compartment. Twice, Mariah debated on whether to reason with Elizabeth or not, but decided against it. Even though she rarely got angry, when she did, Elizabeth was hard to console.

"Now arriving at Central Station!"

The sudden announcement startled both of them. Standing up, Elizabeth and Mariah headed off the train and soon found themselves on the main platform of Central Station.

"Look, Elizabeth. Why don't you go walk around for a while? I'll be gone an hour or so."

Shooting Mariah a fierce glance, Elizabeth shook her head and scoffed.

"What, and leave me in an entire city filled with dogs? No, sister. I think I'll take my chances with a room full of them instead."

"I hate when you get like this," muttered Mariah.

"Welcome to my life," retorted Elizabeth. "You're like this everyday."

It was Mariah's turn to glare at her sister. Shutting up immediately, Elizabeth felt some of her anger disappear only to be replaced with fear of a now irritated Mariah.

Turning towards the main doors of the station, the two sisters walked solemnly towards Central HQ; each of them dreading the soon-to-come meeting of the Colonel…


End file.
